Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Crazy like a fox

This morning I was on my way out of town to our Virginia office, sitting at a red light on Constitution Ave, in between the White House and the Washington Monument. It was a gorgeous day, bright and sunny, hinting that maybe, just maybe, the weather will warm up soon. I was the first at the light; traffic was stopped. Suddenly, from my right - The Ellipse of the White House - a gorgeous red fox appeared at the curb. Its tail went up, it put down its head, and it raced across the lanes of traffic toward the Monument, directly in front of my car. Once on grass again, the fox raised its head high and raced up the hill.

I was flabbergast. My head shot to my right; the guy next to me was on his phone and didn't appear to have noticed. The drivers in the traffic lanes across from me looked zoned-out and bored. Had I really been the only one to see this gorgeous creature dart across traffic in the middle of the city, racing from one green oasis to the next?

I'm taking this morning's fox as a stroke of luck, a good omen, a sign of magical moments to come.

North Carolina was certainly full of them last weekend: a terrific folk art show with my mom, a new painting to call my own, a day spent shopping with the whole crew for my cousin's prom dress. There's nothing quite like 12 hours of family shopping time to test everyone's goodwill toward one another. But wouldn't you know it, we were laughing all the way through.

So DC, then, which is feeling rather un-magical this week... We halfheartedly bid on another house yesterday. We only liked it, didn't love it, and I think more than anything else I wanted to stir the karmic pot a bit, throw something into the universe and see what I got back. Our lowball offer reflected our low level of excitement, and we didn't get it. Which is fine and all... I just needed to do something. I suck at waiting. Our location of choice has such a deficit of listings right now you could throw tomatoes on the real estate map without the splatter hitting something for sale. T's studying for another certification exam. I'm realizing the Oscars got away from me a little bit this year, and playing in the kitchen instead of going to the movies. I'm okay with that. But all of this, really, just feels like me biding time. Which again, I don't do well. Quietly waiting for change to happen upon me makes me nervous; I'd rather have a hand in creating it. I want to be like that fox, hurdling myself across danger, racing into unknown territory, launching new chapters with force of will alone. I also wouldn't mind having super-cute ears.

Love this post. I live in North Carolina, and I'm not sure I've ever seen a fox out in the wild - lucky you seeing one in the middle of the city! Definitely take it as a good omen. House hunting sucks sometimes. But when you find a place, you'll know it's right. It will happen!

There is a family of foxes who live about a mile away. I love to picture them snarfing their food like The Fabulous Mr. Fox. Hahaha, that's probably a good visual of Buddy eating. I hate being stuck in holding patterns- I'm so impatient and forward focused like yourself. However, I think this fox is an excellent omen.